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T ti i^: 

DIARY OF JOHN PEMBERTON, 



FOR THE YEARS 1777 AND 1778. 



EDITED FROM THE MSS. IN THE POSSESSION OF THE SOCIETY, 



ELI K. PRICE, 



A Paper read before "The l!fiimismatic and Antiquarian Society of 
Philadelphia," Thursday Evening, July 5, 1866. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

HEXRY B. ASHMEAD, BOOK AN^ JOB PRINTER, 

Nos. 1102 AND 1104 Sansom Street. 

18G7. 



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THE DIARY OF JOHN PEMBERTON. 



The Society has referred to me two "Diaries of John Pem- 
berton, for 1777 and 1778," asking me to edit them for publi- 
cation. These are chiefly interesting as being in the veritable 
handwriting of one of the most worthy men of his time, at a 
most interesting period of our history. They are notes made 
in "Poor Will's Pocket Almanack," printed by Joseph Cruik- 
shank. The first begins thus : "John Pernborton's. My dear 
mother died 24th of 2d mo., 1765', in her 74tiryear.'" 1777, 
January, 1st mo., "15th, cousin M. Pleasants, d. d. of a daugh- 
ter." " 16th, 17th, 18th, very cold. 19th Oronoake's wife d. d. 
of a son." " 21st, Mark Miller and Thos. Redman, committed 
to Gloucester Goal, for reading an Epistle in the Meetings." 
" 30th, Hannah Logan, widow of William, died about 6 this 
morning." Feby. 2d mo., " 23d. Saml. Class buried ; 24th, 
snowed all day and is very deep." March, 3d mo., " 10th. 
Jos. White died ; 12th, Jos. White buried at the Falls." June 
"25th, Dr. Young buried." August, 8 mo., "4, 5, 6, 7, 
9th, exceeding hot ;" 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15th, continued very 
hot." "14th, several persons died suddenly with the heat 
and drinking cold water. The widdow Morrisson buried, aged 
about 84 ; sister to John Bringhurst dec'd ; lived about 40 years 
in the house she died in. 15th, Thos. Tilbury buried. He 
died last night about 11 o'clock, the effect of drinking water 
when hot; was down stairs about 6 o'clock in the evening." 
September, 9 mo., "2d. I was deprived of my liberty, and 
taken into confinement by order of Congress, and the Presi- 
dent and Council of Penna. without any just cause, as were 
divers other Frie?ids. 11th, a bloody battle between the 
American and English near Birmingham Meeting House. 



About same time myself and 19 otliers banished from Pliila- 
dclpliia as the above was fought, viz., about 5 o'clock, P. M. 
20th, English entered and took possession of Philadelphia 
without opposition. 20th, arrived at Winchester. Our Yearly 
Meeting held very peaceably at Philadelphia." October, 10th 
mo., " 16th. Elizth. Shipley died, aged about 87 years. 23d, 
Augusta ship of war blown up. The report reached to Not- 
tingham and shook the windows as Friends sat in Meeting. 
10th mo. 24th. Houses at Winchester illuminated on account 
of the defeat and capture of Genl. Burgoyne and his army." 
November, 11th mo., " 21st. The Americans set fire to their 
armed vessels in the Delaware. 22d. An earthquake at Philada. 
between 7 and 8 o'clock, A. M., felt at West river in Ml'd. 
28, 29, 30th. Snowed at Winchester, from 9 to 1(J inches deep." 
December, 12th mo., " 5th. Esther White died, aged about 77 
years. 12th. Snowed in the morning. 25th. Snowed in the 
morning. 28. Snow about 4 inches deep. 29th. Very cold. 
80, 31st. Very cold." 

1778. Several money transactions with his brother-in-law, 
Isaac Zane, Jur., erased as settled. Jany., 1st mo., "4, 5, 6th. 
Exceeding moderate fine weather, and all the remainder of the 
week mild, like spring. The 7th, it rained ; 11th, much snow ; 
12th, a fine day, mild ; 13th, clear and cold ; 14, 15, and 16th, 
cold ; 17th, rainy, snow last night ; 23d, very stormy and cold, 
and snowed; 24th, mild and fine day." February, 2d mo., 
" 8th, deep snow ; 9th, fair and very cold ; 24, 25th, very mild 
weather ; 27th, snowed much the fore part of the day, mild the 
latter part; 28th, snowed this morning." March, 3rd mo., 
" 2d. A deep snow. Thos. Gilpin died about 1 o'clock in the 
morning. 3d. More snow and very cold, T. Gilpin buried." 
(He was one of the exiles.) " 4th, very cold. 8th, a fine day ; 
9 and 10th, rainy weather. 16th, removed from Winchester 
to David Brown's. 22d. John Hunt's leg amputated." (He 
was one of the exiles.) " 25th. J. Hunt's leg opened and 
dressed. 27th, cold and raw day ; 28th, fair and pleasant ; 
29th, very snowy and stormy." April, 4th mo., " 21st. Myself 
and II. D. (Henry Drinker,) left Winchester ; 25th, arrived at 



5 

Lancaster ; 27th, discharged by council ; 30th, returned from 
banishment to Philadelphia." May, 5th mo., "20th. My riding 
mare brought 2 foles, both mares ; one died immediately, and 
the other in 2 days after. 20th. Phineas Pemberton, brother 
James's son, died about 7 o'clock, A. M. 21st. Do., buried 
in the evening." June, 6th mo., " 6th. The King's Commis- 
sioners, to treat of an accommodation with America arrived. 
Ship from London also, with provisions for poor Friends, &c. 
17th and 18th, the English evacuated Philada., and the Ameri- 
cans entered on the 18th. Li the morning, and following, 
days the weather extremely hot, from about the 15th to the 
beginning of the 7th month, and for some weeks in that, at 
times very hot, more so than for many years." September, 
9th mo., " 26th. Yearly Meeting very large ; and all the follow- 
ing week very fine weather." October, 10th mo., " 5th. Yearly 
Meeting ended about 7 o'clock, P. M. 9th. Jona. Zane died about 
1 o'clock, A. M. 25th. Sister M. Pemberton died, aged about 
75. 27th. M. P. buried." November, 11th mo., "4th. John 
Roberts and Abraham Carlile put to death in this city. 18th. 
Reese Meredith buried." December, 12th mo., " 5th. Rainy. 
A. Wright put to death. 8, 9th. Clear mild weather. Very 
cold the latter part of the month ; and raw weather most of the 
other part of the month." 

EXPLANATIONS. 

1777, 1 mo., 21st. Miller and Redman, committed for read- 
ing Epistles from the Friends' Meeting for sufferings held at 
Philada., dated 21 of 12th mo., 1776. See, 3 Frd's Miscel'y, 
104; and Gilpin's "Exiles in Virginia," p. 282 and 291. 
This Epistle recalled Friends to their peaceful profession, and 
discouraged the severance of the connection with Great Britain. 

1st mo., 30th. Wm. Logan was son of James, Secretary of 
Wm. Penn, and Chief Justice and Governor of Pcnnsylvana. 

3d mo., 10. Joseph White was a minister at Falls, Bucks 
County, (Memorials, 359.) 

6th mo., 6. Arrival of Comrs. See, 2 Diary of Revolution, 
62. Evacuation lb., 65. 



9tli mo., 11. This was the battle of Brandjwinc, fought at 
Birmingham Meeting House, which was made a hospital by the 
British. In view of this I Avas born, and thuro first worshipped, 
and there arc our dead of the past generations. 

10th mo., 16. Elizth. Shipley, a minister, long resident at 
Wilmington, widow of Wm. Shipley, [Memls. 371 ; Smith's 
His. Del. Co- 501.] She made a religious visit to England 
with Esther White, in 1748. The New Jersey Gazette of 
March 11, 1778, for the encouragement of the American cause, 
published her alleged prophecy, That this country should not 
be conquered by Great Britain. (Moore's Diary of the Revln. 
2 vol. 31.) 

10th mo., 23. Augusta, ship of war blown up. See an account 
of the battle at Fort Mifflin; Penn. Arch., v. 708, &c. The 
Augusta frigate was aground in the Delaware under the fire 
of Fort Mifflin. From that point Nottingham Meeting was 
distant over forty miles by an air line, being near the Mary- 
land line, and in the South West corner of Chester County. 

12th mo., 5th. Esther White was wife of John White, of Wil- 
mington, an earnest, cheerful minister among Friends, (Meml. 
374.) 

1778, 10th mo., 25th. Mary Pemberton was wife of John's 
brother, Israel. Her health was seriously affected by the exile 
of her husband, as was his by that event and her death ; and 
his followed on 22d of 4th mo., 1779. (lb. 386, and Frd's 
Miscly. 48.) 

11th mo., 4. Brief reports of the trials of Roberts and Carlile 
are in 1 Dallas, 35 and 39. The charges were aiding and 
assisting the enemy. The alleged offence of the latter was that 
he had accepted a power to let people out of the city while in 
possession of the British, and had taken some salt from persons 
he termed rebels. The overt acts charged against the former 
were that he persuaded others to enlist with the enemy, and 
that he was going to the Head of Elk to communicate with the 
enemy. Nov. 3d. The Supreme Executive Council refused to 
reprieve, 11 Col. Reed. 614, and on the next day they were 
hung. These persons were Friends, but acting entirely on 



their individual responsibility; and were tried under great pre- 
judice and bias of witnesses and public feeling., 11th mo., 18th. 
Reese Meredith was a merchant and owner of real estate, in- 
cluding a tract in now 20th Ward, of Philadelphia. When 
Colonel Washington was here about 1755, R. Meredith saw 
him as a stranger at the Coffee House, and without introduc- 
tion invited him to share his hospitality ;. and thence ensued a 
lasting friendship. 2 Watson, 165. 

12th mo., 5th. A. Wright, was a laborer, convicted of burg- 
lary. The occasion of J. Pemberton's note was, no doubt, his 
aversion to capital punishments. 

The brief diary of John Pemberton affords me an occasion 
to speak of a family, which was ancient in England before the 
settlement of Pennsylvania, and which has been well known 
and been most highly esteemed in all of our Colonial and State 
history. The descendants are very numerous, but much more 
in the female branches under other names than that of Pem- 
berton. ,__ _. 

A great grandson of James Pemberton, hereafter mentioned, 
Phineas Pemberton Morris, Esquire, furnishes me with the 
following extracts made by him in England from Baine's His- 
tory of Lancashire, vol. iii. p. 561 and 2. " Pemberton is a 
populous and exiensive township, containing the manufacturing 
village of Lamberhead Green. Adam de Pemberton was living- 
in the reign of Richard 1st., and in 3rd John, his son Alan 
paid ten marks to have seizin of his lands in Pemberton." 
" An ancient half-timbered habitation called Pemberton Hall, 
the abode of the De Pemberton's in the reign of Henry VIII., 
and subsequently of the Marklands, is now scarcely remem- 
bered." "A little west from Ince," says Holland Watson, 
" this place gave name and seat to an ancient family of which 
Sir Goddard Pemberton settled at St. Albans, 1615 ; whose 
son, Ralph Pemberton, Esquire, was twice Mayor of that place, 
father of Sir Francis Pemberton, Knight, Lord Chief Justice 
of both Benches and Privy Counsellor, who died 1697, aged 
72. Lewis Pemberton, Esquire, succeeded Sir Goddard in the 



8 

Shrievalty of Hertford Shire, for the latter part of 1615 and 
1617. AVas kniglited by James 1st at Biivry Hall." 

The above named Ralph Pembertoii, tlionn:h probably con- 
nected by blood, could not have been the same who came to 
Pennsylvania in 1683, with his son, Phineas, according to the 
account of the Pemberton family," which I ascribe to the late 
James Pemberton Parke, son of Doctor Thomas Parke. He 
was son of William Pemberton, who May 30th, 1625, took a 
lease of a cottage at Aspull, in Lancashire, of Roger Hindley, 
of Hindley Hall, its " crofts or clausures of land, gardens, pas- 
tures, feedings," t&c, for the three lives of his children, Alice, 
Margay, and Ralph, and the survivor of them. This Ralph's 
issue were Phineas and Joseph, the former born 11th mo., 31, 
1649-50. Phineas Pemberton and his wife, Phoebe, came 
with his aged father, Ralph, who died in 1687, and her father, 
James Harrison, to Pennsylvania in 1683, and settled at the 
Falls, in Bucks County. He was a member of Council in 1685, 
and Speaker of the Assembly in 1698. (1 Col. Records, 125, 
548). In him was concentrated several of the most important 
oflBces of Bucks County ; and the records yet there, which I 
have seen, abundantly attest his care, neatness, and skill. In 
1683, he was appointed deputy Register ; in 1686, was ap- 
pointed deputy Master of the Rolls ; in 1689, Avas appointed 
Receiver of Proprietary Quit Rents ; in 1691, Register General 
of that County ; and in 1696, was made Master of the Rolls in 
place of Thomas Lloyd. He was also a Surveyor. (lb. 514.) He 
died 1st mo., 1st, 1702. He left few his equal "for Avisdom and 
integrity, and a general service." (7 Friends' Miscellany, 36.) 
Israel Pemberton, his son, was born 12 mo., 20th, 1684-5. 
He was an apprentice with Samuel Carpenter in this City, 
and become an eminent and successful merchant, and in many 
ways publicly useful, as well as in his own religious Society. 
The Philadelphia Monthly Meeting say in their memorial of 
him, " Having chosen the fear of the Lord in his youth, and 
being preserved therein, he established and supported an un- 
blemished character by his justice, integrity, and uprightness in 
his dealing amongst men, and his mild, steady, and |inid(.Mit 



9 

conduct through life. He was a member of this meeting near 
fifty years, and being well grounded in the principles of truth, 
of sound judgment and understanding, he approved himself a 
faithful Elder ; adorning our holy profession by a life of meek- 
ness, humility, circumspection, and a disinterested regard to 
the honor of truth ; of great use in the exercise of our dis- 
cipline, being a lover of peace and unity in the church, careful 
to promote and maintain it; constant in the attendance of meet- 
ings, and his deportment therein grave, solid, and reverent, 
and a true sympathizer with those who were honestly concerned 
in the ministry ; a conspicuous example of moderation and 
plainness ; extensive in his charity and of great benevolence." 

The deceased Israel Pemberton left three sons who followed 
his example, and became eminently useful in their generation ; 
V^ Israel, the eldest ; James, born 6th mo,, 26th, 1723, and JoJin, / 
born 11th mo., 27th, 1727. James, as his father, Avas a success- 
ful merchant ; a person of great public usefulness, and an elder 
in the religious Society of Friend; a manager of the Penn- 
sylvania Hospital, and one of the founders of the Pennsylvania 
Abolition Society. He died 2d mo., 9th, 1809. John Pem- 
berton was also bred a merchant; entered into business for a 
time; but in 1751, began to speak in the ministry; and the 
greater part of the residue of his life was devoted in the min- 
istry at home and abroad, many years having been spent in 
foreign lands ; and in Pyrmont, Germany, he closed his valu- 
able life and services on the 31st of the 1st month, 1795. His 
hand traced the notes before us. "" 

All the Pemberton's above named rendered much valuable 
service to humanity, in maintaining a peaceful and friendly 
intercourse with the native Indians; in alleviating the suffer- 
ings of the African race ; and in maintaining all the humane 
testimonies of the Society of Friends. They were eminent 
among men at a period of our American history, when we turn 
to the Quakers of Pennsylvania, and the contiguous colonies 
and State, for the most pleasing examples of human life. 

More certainly than other men did the Friends find within 
themselves the evidence of our immortal being, and in the vivid 



10 

realization of the future, were enabled to sink the objects and 
pursuits of this life into comparative unimportance ; except as 
they were made available for their immortal happiness. Bris- 
sot de Warvillc, when in this country in 1788, studied them 
with the head and heart of a philosopher and philanthropist, 
and in writing of an interview he had had with James Pem- 
berton after the loss of a beloved daughter, said, " The Quakers 
carry to the borders of the tomb this same tranquility of mind ; 
and it even forsakes not the women at this distressing moment. 
This is the fruit of their religious principles, and of a regular, 
virtuous life. They consider heaven as their country; and 
they cannot conceive why death, which conducts them to it 
should be a misfortune. This habitual serenity does not di- 
minish their sensibility. The respectable Pemberton recounted 
to me the death of a beloved daughter which happened the day 
before. I could see the tear steal down his cheek, which a 
moment's reflection caused to disappear. He loved to speak 
to me of her virtues and her resignation during her long agony. 
'She was an angel,' said he, 'and she is now in her place.' 
This good father did not exaggerate. You will find in this 
Society many of these celestial images clothed in serenity ; the 
symbol of eternal peace and conscious virtue." (7 Frd's 
Miscellany, 81.) 

The note of the banishment to Virginia requires a separate 
consideration. The Friends sent into exile were among the 
most eminent for influence and usefulness. There were twenty 
exiles, and besides the three brothers, Pemberton, first named 
in the order of Council, there were named therein, Thomas 
Wharton, Senr., Miers Fisher, Phineas Bond, William Drewet 
Smith, Owen Jones, Jur., Thos. Gilpin, Elijah Brown, Revd. 
Thos. Coombe, Thos. Fisher, Saml. Fisher, Henry Drinker, 
Saml. Pleasants, John Hunt, Charles Jervis, Thos. Pike, Wil- 
liam Smith, Charles Eddy, Edward Pennington, and Thos. 
Affleck. In their protest the signatures of two are thus: 
William Drcwit Smith and Samuel R. Fisher. Those who 
well understand Friends' views and principles can recur to the 
events without any disposition to reproach their motives or 



11 

character. They were non-combatants in principles ; and 
consequently bound to abide quietly under the government 
existing over them. They can take no part in war, can con- 
tribute nothing specifically for its support, consequently can 
never be rebels against the powers that be. Generally they 
did not desire change; and felt a strong attachment to their 
relatives and brethren in religious fellowship in England, and 
their feelings of humanity shrank from the horrors of war. 
Both John and James Pemberton kept journals during the 
Revolution much more ample in expression than the brief facts 
now serving us as texts. See 7 Frd's Miscellany, 62, and 8th 
do. 58. John, feelingly notices the number of soldiers killed 
and wounded, and that fresh men came, many of whom, he 
says, appear like reputable farmers. " But the sorrowful 
reflections occur in thinking how many wives were likely to 
become widows and children fatherless ; and that the spectacles 
of misery and mortality which abound, had not a more humb- 
ling effect upon the minds of the people." And under date 
of 3d mo., 22d, 1777 ; he speaks of proclamations for fasts both 
in England and America, and prayers for success in the strug- 
gle of arms ; and admitting the necessity to fast from all wrong 
things, and to humble ourselves because of the great impiety 
and Avickedness that abound, and of entreaty that the Lord 
might have mercy and pity the people, he proceeds to ask, 
" How could it be supposed that we, as a Religious Society, 
could comply with such voluntary injunctions, when thereby 
Friends in England and Friends here might implore the same 
Divine Being for contrary and contradictory things !" (lb, 63.) 
After the passage of acts for test oaths the Friends in their 
Yearly Meeting of 1778, adopted the following expression of 
their views. " On consideration of what is necessary to be 
proposed to Friends on the subject of declaration of allegiance 
and abjuration, required by some late laws by the Legislatures 
who now preside in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we are 
united in judgment, that, consistent with our religious prin- 
ciples, we cannot comply with the requisitions of those laws, 
as we cannot be instrumental in setting up or pulling down any 



12 

government ; but it becomes us to show forth ;i peaceable and 
meek behaviour to all men seeking their good, and to live a 
sober, useful, and religious life, without joining ourselves with 
any party in war, or with the spirit of strife and contention 
now prevailing. And we believe that if our conduct is thus 
uniform and steady, and our hope fixed on the Omnipotent 
Arm for relief, lie will, in time, amply reward us Avith lasting 
peace, which hath been the experience of our Friends in time 
past, and avc hope, of some now under suffering." 

In the disposition to oppress Friends Washington never 
participated, and the Pemberton journals, as well as others, 
afford ample proof of that fact as well as oral traditions. 

But the zeal and earnestness of the patriots of the revolu- 
tion could neither tolerate opposition nor neutrality ; and the 
spirit of the times demanded victims ; and hence Friends were 
banished to Virginia, and some at home were hung. We can 
see now, at this distance of time, with more perfect informa- 
tion and free from excitement how needlessly they suffered. 
True Friends, as certainly they were who were sent into exile, 
could no more give aid and comfort to the enemy than to the 
American cause ; and if wisely left to their own convictions, 
they would have been found ministering unto human suffering 
wheresoever found, and proceeding from whatsoever cause, as 
has been proved during the late war of the rebellion. 

A full narrative Avith the attesting documents relating to the 
banishment of Friends, and a fcAv of the Episcopal Church was 
printed by Thomas Gilpin for the subscribers in 1848, and is 
in the Philadelphia Library. He was son of Thomas Gilpin 
who died in exile ; and his mother, Lydia, was sister of Samuel 
R. and Miers Fisher. 

The John Hunt Avho died in exile in Virginia, Avhose eminent 
services are often mentioned by others in journals and letters, 
Avas an emnient minister among Friends. He sustained the 
principle and courage of his companions, though himself to fall 
the second victim, and to die after suffering amputation under 
the discomforts of banishment from home and family. 

The John iiunt Avho died in Virginia Avas not the same as 



13 

the John Hunt whose notes in the Revolution the Society sent 
to me. The latter was also a minister in the Society of Friends, 
who resided at Moorestown, N. J., and lived until 1824, and 
died, aged 84 years. He began a diary in 1770, which he 
continued unto the year of his death ; to be found in 10th 
volume of Comly's Friends' Miscellany, The notes sent me 
belong to the 1st volume of that collection. These supposed 
prognostics were gloomy in prophecy, and for the period of 
trial and purgation sad in their realization. With Friends, 
foreboding visions and anticipated troubles, nature herself 
seemed to sympathize, or the Almighty to show his displeasure 
with man by marring his works. These were looked upon as 
stripped and blighted, that rebellious man should not enjoy 
her bright verdure and her accustomed fruits. These were 
destroyed by the catterpillar, the frosts, and locusts. Diseases 
and violence prevailed among men, and madness among animals, 
and fear fell upon the minds of the people. Measles, small- 
pox, camp-fever, and the Hessian fly ; drafting, imprisonments, 
billetting of soldiers, and occupation of Meeting Houses for 
hospitals, came with the war. But the war ended after seven 
years ; the Friends acquiesced in the change ; made their friendly 
address to General Washington, as President of the United 
States, and received a kind response from him who always 
respected their conscientious convictions. Nature and Friends 
again assumed a happy aspect; but to the minds of Friends a 
dark cloud yet rested upon the nation, still threatening a Divine 
retribution, so long as the sons of Africa were kept in bond- 
age, and the Indians suffered wrong by the encroachments of 
white men. The day of deliverance came at last for the slaves, 
not as Friends would have wished by peaceful means, yet by 
means permitted by Him to whom vengeance belongeth ; and 
the liberated slaves, and yet extant Indians claim their aid in 
common with our paternal government. 

In conclusion I would say that the eftorts of our Society have 
not begun to, soon. Many materials exist that arc daily pass- 
ing away among the descendants of old families that would 
illustrate history, and interest deeply our descendants in our 



.'V-)}^ 



14 

most worthy ancestors. More of these exist in the custody of 
the Meetings of Friends and among their descendants than in 
•any equal number of our citizens. Those belonging to the 
Meetings are not easily accessible to those not in membership ; 
yet it is evident that Dr. Smith's Ilistoiy of Delaware county 
has been much enriched from that source ; Dr. Michener's 
Early Retrospect of Quakerism is made up from that source; 
and Comly's Fiiends' Miscellany in twelve volumes, contains 
only matters that relate to that Religious Society. 



1212 79 



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